


Starless Night

by i_dalliance



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Portal Incident (Gravity Falls), or whichever you decide, time travelling reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-06-27 16:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15688707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_dalliance/pseuds/i_dalliance
Summary: It seemed like an instant then you were there and he couldn't remember what it was like when you weren't there.Reupload because I made a mistake with tags and accidentally implied something I didn't want to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry about that, I didn't realise until just now how things might be interpreted. This is a bit self-indulgent but mostly because I would love to just chill with Ford while solving mysteries.

Ford murmured complaints under his breath, his hands threatening to shake as he adjusted the minute wires inside the device. It seemed impossible, Stanford reminded harshly why he preferred to observe and take notes. Even figuring out formulas was better. His frustration running deep and making him make mistakes.

Despite that odd feeling lingering in his limbs, he finished the device, screwing the panel back on. With a flurry of excitement inside of him, he flicked the switch, wondering if he was going to finally get something closer on the weirdness culminating in Gravity Falls.

Light shined from the air in front of him as smoke began to well from the machine, his hand instinctively moving to in front of his face to block the light. His eyes watered and the form became even more humanoid, falling to the ground while they became solid. His hand reached forward as you fell to the ground, your own hands falling to the ground with a slap.

"What..?" you said, dazed as Ford leant back suddenly at the realisation that someone had just appeared in his lab, "Where am I?"

"Uh..." he said, his hands up as you hesitantly pushed yourself up with a hand on his desk to stabilise yourself, "My lab?"

You just stared at him with disbelief, your face wrenching with something Ford couldn't quite analyze. His hand found their way to the back of his neck as you just stared at him, taking a deep breath as if you were already frustrated with him.

"How'd I get here," you said, looking at your hands, "I was..."

"I am unsure," he said, pushing himself up as excitement built up inside of him, "I'll need to run some tests."

He began to furiously scribble something as you trailed after him, your eyes moving around the wood hallway. Your eyes moved to trail on his form, something beginning to nag at the back of your mind. He seemed to suddenly realise that you were trailing after him, turning around and suddenly realising what you were wearing.

"I didn't know they made.. uh..." awkwardness settled over him and you felt your hands tighten as they pressed against the jeans that pressed against your hips, "jeans that tight."

"They make tighter ones," you said a bit confused, your jeans were pretty modest.

Your eyebrows began to flit together, something about his glasses seeming off to you. Everything seemed to be archaic here, almost as if he had been trapped in this room for the last thirty or forty years. Your mouth opened to start pestering him for questions when your eyes caught sight of the calendar hanging on the wall. You felt your limbs grow weak, body almost instinctively walking towards it as you dragged your fingers against the numbers that had affected you so badly.

"This can't be true," you said, the mystery man himself looking at you with furrowed eyebrows, "You just forgot to change the calendar or it's a museum."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's 2018 right?" you asked him, panic on your face as the realisation of what you may have been flitting across him, "Don't lie to me, I'll be very cross."

"It's 1977," he said, his eyes flitting to the calendar that stated the same thing, "How interesting, time travel."

You felt your head go light and you sat down, looking forward with wide eyes. Your hands began to reach forward as you grasped the magazine in front of you, flipping through the pages with a sick feeling building up inside of you as an ad happily proclaims that you can buy your own Apple II for only just 1,268 dollars. Your fingers tapped on the archaic device, the paper in your hands too new and pristine for this to be a joke.

You looked up at the man, tears welling up in your eyes as he excitedly chattered to himself with his pen flying across the paper. He looked to you and suddenly froze, the first hot and heavy tear slipping out to stream down your face. He awkwardly patted your shoulder suddenly, you looking up at him with watery eyes.

"I'll figure this out," he finally said, the way he rubbed his neck giving him away, "Don't worry."

"Great," you said, hands resting in your lap, "Who are you?"

Ford gave an awkward chuckle before introducing himself, you awkwardly giving him your name as well. Anxiety began to build up inside of you as thoughts washed over you, your teeth nibbling on your finger as you looked over to Stanford, still awkwardly patting your back.

You began to fret, anxiety rumbling off of you. You began to realise that you could never get a job, no record of your existence anywhere in this world. You couldn't afford somewhere to live without a job.

Ford gave an awkward cough, curled hand in front of his mouth and you looked at him. He seemed reluctant to meet your eyes but that hardly seemed surprising from what you had seen so far.

"You could stay here until I figure this out," he awkwardly said, his hands out as he offered, "This is my fault, it's the least I can do."

You gave a nervous chattering laugh, looking at him with an odd look, "I really hope this isn't an elaborate ruse to murder me."

To your surprise, he gave a short bark of laughter, that really made him laugh for some reason.

"I guess you'll have to find out."

* * *

 Your fingers thrummed against the mug, the bitter smell of instant coffee welling up from inside of it. Ford tore apart the coffee maker to patch something and hadn't gotten into town to replace it yet, so you were getting particularly close to the kettle to get whatever fill you wanted of your heated drinks.

You stared at Ford with backpacks strapped to him and weighing him down, "You know that you can just admit you need someone to carry some of your stuff like you can be honest about this."

"I need someone to carry things," he said, looking you right in the face, "though I will admit I have been wanting company."

You took a sip and made a disgusted face, Ford raising an eyebrow at that. You just dumped it down the sink and left it there, slipping your shoes on before picking up a bag and strapping it to your back. You giving a wide smile to him while you stood there.

"Well then," you said with a slight waggle of your hips, "Let's get going."

After locking the door behind you, Ford led the way forward from the house and into the woods. The weight of the bag began to already push you down but you ignored it, looking around at awe at everything. The sun had begun to rise and trickle through the leaves, glimmering through the dew in a way that made you chest ache with how beautiful it was.

You realised how long it had been since you had been outside, having spent most of your time indoors since you got to this time. It was nice to feel the cool air of morning wash over you, different than the summer heat that radiated from every corner of the house.

"It's nice," you said with a soft sigh, Ford raising a head out of the cryptic maps on parchment to look at you.

"What was that?" he murmured while keeping his pace, you just shaking your head.

"It was nothing."

The trees began to clear and the ground became more gravel, the sound of water beginning to roll just ahead of the two of you. A river began to come into view, the water rushing against the rocks. A head popped out of the water to give a nasty look at Ford who pretended not to see it despite his ears going a bright pink.

"Ex," he mumbled and you looked over to see a fishtail slip into the water, "A siren I dated last year."

You smiled as their head popped up again, giving them an excited wave. A moment passed before they waved back, the grumpiness on their face again as they saw Ford again. They slipped away for good again and you kept walking, a smile on your face.

"They seem nice."

"I suppose so," he rubbed the back of his head, "They're going to head back to sea soon so the glares will be over then at least."

It was clear that he didn't want to keep talking about it and you were more than willing to drop the subject. You looked up at the sky, just one cloud that you could see in the sky, a small drifty wisp of white across the sky.

"Hey, Ford," you asked as the thought crossed your mind, "Where are we heading?"

"When I first arrived in Gravity Falls," he started as the two of you went forward for a little bit longer before turning back into the woods, "My car was destroyed."

"Oh," you said, looking at him in concern.

"A hand went out and grabbed it," he said, his eyes wide and bright, "some sort of tree being."

"So like an ent," you said and he gave a sheepish nod.

"I didn't think you would get that reference so I avoided it," he looked embarrassed, "I shouldn't have assumed that."

You couched and he continued, his body freer towards you at the realisation that you may have some of the same interests. You decided not to get into them being turned into movies, seeing no point as they wouldn't be released for a few decades.

"It was serendipitous," he said, "Proof of the weird and bizarre here, I've been trying to find him since I got here and I believe I'm starting to narrow it down."

You gave a hum in response and silence washed over the pair of you as you went along. Ford began to slow into a walk as he consulted the journal with his hand plastered on the front.

"We're nearly there," Ford said, raising a hand before gesturing you to drop the bags.

He was by your side in a blink, hands digging through the pack you had just barely put down. You felt the urge to hide as he pulled out a megaphone. not entirely sure if it was a smart thing to loudly broadcast where the two of you were.

"Give me a second," he said as he wrote something down, "I am now ready to make contact with Steve."

"Steve?"

"He seems like a Steve," Ford said with a straight face before lifting the megaphone to his mouth.

You flinched as Ford's voice was amplified, rumbling through the forest. The hairs on the back of your neck began to prickle up, hearing a noise back. A loud screeching noise came closer at a suspiciously fast rate and you realised what exactly was screaming while being thrown through the air.

"Get down," you shouted before grabbing him and forcing him to the ground.

A deer soared over your head, right where Ford would have just been. You panting for a few moments in fear before you realised that Ford was staring right back up at you, something crossing his face as you pushed yourself off of him.

"I'm sorry," you said, looking over to the side to see a deer stagger up and give a pained noise before limping away.

"No, you did good," he said before pushing himself up and fixing his glasses, "I think I might invite you on these trips more often."

You barked a breathy laugh before helping him up to his feet, giving him a tired look and informing him that you were tired of research trips for the day. If you focused on your exhaustion you certainly wouldn't have the thought of how firm his chest was underneath your hands, not wanting to open that can of worms just yet.


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay," Ford said, moving his arms as they stuck out of the impromptu pillow armour you taped around his chest all while ignoring that feeling growing inside of you whenever you looked at the scientist, "I think we're ready."

"You better be," you said, handing him a net before he ambled into the room that odd noises were coming from, "Go get em, tiger."

"Don't call me that."

There was a clear disgust in his voice as if the word had assaulted him in a back alley and riffled his pockets free of whatever dice he was carrying at the moment.

"Okay," you said, making a note mentally of that, "Go get them tigress."

At that, you heard that noise again, the snarling noise of something eating. Ford looked better at 'tigress' so you figured that it was a go. You pushed at his shoulder and he turned around with the net held up high.

You walked carefully behind him, holding up the clunky Polaroid camera that he got you to pull out whenever a subject was too flighty to properly draw at the moment. You quickly snapped a picture of the creature practically submerged in the bowl of jellybeans he had there, the flash making it jump and the camera spit out a square picture. You quickly took another picture as it stood there, watching the way it's pupils grew wide at the flash of light.

Ford ran forward and the net soared through the air, landing on the creature who gave a snarl. It tore through the net quickly to leap at Ford and attack while you gave a small jump, a flash filling the room. As the photo shot out the creature seemed dazed from the blinding light, Ford catching his breath as feathers floated out of the pillow that saved him. You quickly ran forward and grabbed a handful of the creature, easing the window open before throwing it out.

A small shudder spread through your body as you closed the window quickly, seeing the creature hiss at you from the other side of the glass. The feeling of flesh and small hairs you could still feel on your hands, you taking a look to see if there was anything left over on your hands. Despite how gross it is, Ford would probably enjoy the sample.

"Ew," you pulled a hair off your hand, the urge to vomit growing while Stanford quickly pulled out a plastic bag and had you drop it in, "I'm washing my hands."

"Good job!" he said coming in after you while you desperately scrubbed at your hands until they were red, "Quick thinking with the flash there, we even got a picture out of it because of that."

You finished and dried your hand while Ford had his head buried in his journal, sketching out the outline from one of the pictures despite the polaroid not finished coming into view. Your eyes trailed to the ruined pillow on his chest and you walked over, doing your best to ease the tape off of his vest. As it came off the pillow fell apart, a small pile of pillows plopping to the floor right in front of you.

"I guess we'll need a new pillow," you sighed as you pulled off some more tape, Ford's eyes moving as he realised how close you were picking off tape.

His lips pursed in an awkward smile, hyper-aware of your fingers pulling the tape away. He gave a small laugh before his fingers tightened their grip on his journal.

"You're right," he said before heading off with a turn of his heel, "As usual, I need to get that hair analyzed now. Thank you."

You watched him leave the room, back downstairs, with a long strip of tape spread across his back. You slapped the tape that you had pulled off together to toss in the garbage before ambling over to find the broom and sweep up this mess.

He was acting weird and not weird in the way that he seemed to hide D, D and more D (that's too much D, you said to his confusion before reassuring him it would be funnier in 2018) from you. Like you knew he was playing it, you could hear him talk to himself in that role-playing voice.

This was more of a painful weird.

At least that had a reason, there was nothing that you could remember doing to anger him like this. It would at least make the pain manageable or even a clue on how to fix it.

Anger filled you and your hands clenched the broom, putting it to the side as much as you'd rather throw it to the ground. You put it against the wall, your hands clenching and unclenching before you turned on your heel to go down into the basement you knew he had hidden away in.

"Ford," you said as the elevator opened, giving a jump of surprise while he quickly shoved some paper into the cubby.

"Oh hi," he said, his body awkwardly posed with his hands resting on his hips, "What are you doing down here?"

"What's your deal," you asked, Ford, looking away from you while you stared at him angrily, "You've been more of a recluse than usual."

Something crossed his face and he gave an awkward laugh, pushing away from the desk to scoot over to the device that brought you here. You just looked at it as he gave a small flourish with his hands, refusing to look you in the eyes.

"I fixed it," he said, you leaning over his shoulder in excitement and ignoring the way he tensed and looked away.

"Let's give it a shot then," you said, a bright look in your eye and Ford held a small smile as he grabbed it and put it in front of the pair of you.

Ford's hand reached out to turn it on and something welled up inside of you and you barked out, "Wait."

He froze with something resembling hope on his face. You felt a small amount of sadness flicker over you but you pushed that aside, throwing away your home and your family for the beginning of a crush seemed like a bad choice.

"Thank you," you said, your eyes warm as you rested a hand on his shoulder, "Being here, looking for anomalies. It's been amazing. Thank you for everything, I won't forget this or you."

"I'll look you up when you're old and gross."

He gave an awkward cough before turning back to the machine, he flicked it on and a hum filled the room. Light began to build up from it and you squinted your eyes as it grew to be too light for you to handle.

Then it sputtered out and died, a whine coming from the machine.

"Oh," you both said together, "never mind all that then."

You gave a light laugh at that, Stanford giving a small smile at the noise.

"You're smart though," you said to Ford, giving him a light push on his shoulder, "You'll figure it out."

"I..." his face was serious for a moment before his voice pitched up awkwardly, "I'm sure I will."

* * *

"I'll be fine," he said as you brushed disinfectant on his wounds, Ford giving a hiss at the pain.

"You have like no common sense," you said, beginning to carefully wrap his hand with a bandage, "Why would you not think the plant with teeth could bite."

"But I got this," he said holding a tooth that you had dug out of his palm up in his other hand while giving you a dorky grin, "Now I can finally answer whether they're plant like teeth or they're just a plant with human teeth."

You couldn't help but give a small smile at that, his enthusiasm for his field was contagious. There was a clear part of him that wanted to leave his mark on the world, to make something better for people who follow suit.

Maybe that's why he was so hurt when you finally confessed you had never heard of him in the future.

Your hands shook as you finished tying the bandage, something stopping you from looking him in the eyes. It was hard to deny your crush on Ford, it didn't help when he got like this. Too enamoured with a find to be aware of anything else.

You patted his hand, feeling the roughness of the bandage against your palm. He seemed to be suddenly aware of you touching him and you could feel his hand twitch, your heart dropping and you suddenly dropped his hand.

"I should let you get back to work," you said, turning on your heel to leave and Ford just stared while you left, giving an absent look to his hand.

It tightened and he tried not to look at the paper he shoved into his desk a while ago, the mix of feelings being too much for him right now. He wished sometimes that he wasn't such a coward but that all seemed to be washed away by the feel of your hand against his.

He turned his attention instead to the tooth he got, knowing that wouldn't make him feel such a hot wash of emotions. He broke one of the roots off to run tests on, plopping it into a small vial before continuing on with it.

Hours passed in a blink and he finally ambled upstairs, exhaustion settling across his body. He was surprised to see a lamp still on, you curled up on the couch with a cold plate next to you. Your soft breathing filled the air and Ford gently eased you into his arms before hoisting you up off the couch.

You gave a mumble in your sleep and he held back the urge to trail his thumb against your cheek, just enjoying the peaceful look on your face. He put you in the bed he made in the attic for you and tucked you in.

He barely remembers eating the food you made him before going to sleep, his head just full of thoughts of you.


	3. Chapter 3

His pen scratched against the paper he had put to the side for scratchy notes. His eyes flicked up from the paper to look at you, quickly looking back down when you glanced up from the camera you were gently passing from hand to hand.

He gave a nod like he hadn't just written that he was pretending to write things down, a thoughtful look on his face. He was quick to push the paper behind some other when you quickly stormed over to him, Ford's body tensing as your hand casually wrapped around his waist.

"Smile," you said raising the camera up and he gave a bit of a confused look, glasses pushing up and off his face when the flash went off, "time for a selfie."

The camera whirred and sputtered out a picture, you grabbing it and giving it a shake as it developed. Stanford started another explanation that it doesn't help develop it faster but you just ignored him, humming something under your breath.

As it comes into existence you couldn't help the smile that spread across your face at how doofy Ford looked like, his face smeared with surprise with his glasses threatening to leap into the air. His hand was a blurry mess, making you sad that his sixth finger wasn't noticeable in the smear of skin across the page.

"That's a keeper," you finally decided as it finished developing, "You wanna take a look?"

"I don't like pictures of myself," he said, refusing to even look in its direction in almost a fear that he would see it.

"Okay," you said, giving it one last look before tucking it into your pocket, keeping that one close for sure, "That's a valid perspective."

"I should go," he said, turning on his heel with his body still tense with something uncomfortable.

Something began to bubble in your chest, reaching up to squeeze at your throat and seeped the joy out of your body. Your hands squeezed each other, fear straining your body. You hoped you didn't offend him, sensing that there was something more personal than just his feelings about his appearance.

"Oh," he said popping his head in for a moment, "I'm supposed to drag you along the next time I visit my parents."

"What? Why?" you asked and he shuffled awkwardly.

"Apparently they heard you while I was talking to them on the phone," he said, "There was no stopping my mother after that."

"Oh," you said, suddenly realised that it would be a bit silly to admit you never thought that he had a family just that he had formed as a scientist in the woods with zero common sense, "I suppose."

He gave an awkward chattering laugh before smiling at you, "It won't be that bad, or at least it'll be bad together." 

* * *

 "I realise how silly it is but I was half expecting to fly," you said, staring out the window to see the trees rolling by as you began to drive across the states to Jersey.

"I can't afford that," he said with a smile, "Flying common in the future? Must be hard to deal with all that smoke."

"You can smoke on planes? I'd say they stop letting people doing that, smoking, in general, is apparently hard to find somewhere to do apparently," you said, looking at him with your fingers on the tacky wood panels of the dashboard, "As for common I don't know. I have, it was cramped and awful. Shoved in a tube with so many other people with barely enough room to sit on."

"I've heard it being a luxury thing," Ford said as he merged into another lane, the luggage shoved into the back, "not that I've ever flown."

You sighed, silence settling over the pair of you again. This was the first time that you were with him and it wasn't trailing into the forest for some legend or another, there was always the thrill of adventure trailing over you.

It seemed almost daunting to sit in a car with Stanford for three days.

"Sooo," you said your fingers tapping even harder now, "You're from Jersey right?"

"Yeah," he said, giving you an odd look.

"Ever find the Jersey Devil?" you said with a grin and he seemed to freeze, pondering it over almost on whether he should tell you.

"I found it," he said, his chest puffing up a bit with pride, "though I set it loose."

"That sounds like a story," you said, waggling your eyebrows and he just shrugged.

Despite the way he pretended to hesitate, there was a clear excitement rumbling inside of him. This was something he probably wanted to tell you for a while, you kept reminding him to keep his hands on the wheels instead of gesturing.

There was something off about the story though, as if he cut out something important. He mentioned something about something with his father before cutting it out, almost reluctant to mention about it. Your fingers dug into your knee, the question bubbling up in your chest but you shoved it down which he seemed to appreciate.

"Sounds like an adventure," you said as he finished, that twinkle in his eye that he always got when he told a story.

"Yeah," something forlorn crossed his tone, "I suppose it was."

Your fingers ached again to awkwardly hold your stomach, thoughts threatening to overwhelm you again. The radio turned from ads to music, something that wasn't even dragged into the next century by nostalgic old people.

"Do you..." Ford started while leaning forward, his view on the road ahead, "I mean, what did you do before..."

He gestured wildly in front of him and you gave a laugh at that, your mind slipping off the thoughts that nearly began to swallow you up. You shuffled yourself higher on the chair, the seatbelt digging into your shoulder before you fixed it.

You gave him a smile before starting to talk about yourself, your voice soft as you were certain it wasn't something he would be that interested in. If he wasn't he didn't show it, instead he gave a hum and asking questions.

The sun began to dip down in the horizon, your stomach began to grumble. Your face went hot and you hoped he didn't hear that before realising that his stomach as well was also starting to make noise.

"Let's pull over," he said, moving over to the town that was coming up, "Let's get ourselves sick on diner food." 

* * *

"I'm so tired," you said, your hand stuck out the window as the wind blew into the car, "I want out of this car."

"Just a bit further," he said, his eyes beginning to droop and you just poked him in the nose and he gave a jump while nearly swerving into the other lane, "What was that for?"

"Get a hotel," you said, hand on your chest as you tried to not sound too panicked, "or a motel or even a campground, I didn't come from forty years in the future to die because you're too stubborn to sleep."

"Okay," he said, knowing that you'd fight him to the point the two of you were flustered with something aching inside of you, "I keep forgetting it isn't just about my own health."

You sat down on the car hood, staring up at the lights and seeing the moths bump around it. The motel that he had pulled into seemed a bit skeevy, you making a note to yourself to check for bugs because it would pass Ford's mind or he would pull out something overly complicated to check.

Your head whipped up as the office door opened, Stanford wiggling a key in his hand with a tired look on his face. You picked up the luggage and quickly followed after him, Ford struggling for a moment before you reached over and took the key to put it in yourself.

"One second," you said hand on his chest to stop him from laying down with the lights still off, throwing something you snatched from the housed and tossing it on the bed.

You didn't know what it was but it radiated heat, you took a few moments before flicking the lights on.

You lowered your hand at no sight of movement, Ford giving you a confused look before picking it up.

"Why did you bring this?" he asked as you threw yourself on the bed, shuffling under the sheets.

"Checking for bed bugs," you said, "the house is all wood, we'd have such a hard time to get rid of them."

He gave a tired chuckle before he fell asleep, the last thing you saw before falling asleep was the faint outline of Ford's face.

* * *

The scenery began to change from forest to plains and back to forest, the feeling of the woods seeming a bit different. A different feeling from what you got in Gravity Falls radiating from them, making you a bit curious on what it was.

Then it turned to the sea, sandy beaches with tourists still trailing through it. The season was ending but there were people that were trying to get the last bit of the sea that they could despite the cold threatening to seep in.

"Just a few more hours," he said, you staring past him to the ocean, "Then we'll be in Glass Shard Beach."

"Comfy sounding name," you said and he gave a bark of laughter, you feeling something warm spread through your chest at the sound of that.

"It's just as comfy in person," he said with a bit of a smile, you happy that this trip had happened.

Things just clicked between the two of you, you growing even closer to him. Your eyes trailed across his jawline, seeing the way he casually observed the way the sea lapped against the shore. He gave you a grin before the sound of his turn-signal loudly rumbling through the car.

"What are you doing?" you asked as he pulled into the mostly empty parking lot.

"I thought you should at least see the ocean," he said and you got out of the car, a chill permeating through the air.

Your feet pressed into the sand, having long kicked off your shoes. Your fingers trailed across the metal of the roof, stepping out towards the sea. You walked forward to just where the water lapped against the shore, barely noticing the shiver spreading through your body.

"It's been a while," he said, coming to stand next to you with his hands in his coat pocket, "I always forget how sad it makes me feel."

You looked at him for a moment as something crossed his face, that feeling that he was hiding some sort of old pain from you edging up in your mind. You shuffling even closer to him, your arm slipping into his with your head on his shoulder.

He tensed for a moment before easing into it, giving a sigh as he took in your comfort.

"Thank you," you heard him whisper, "Maybe one day I'll tell you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive, probably. Had a rough while for a bit but it worked out.

You curled up on your position, high and staring out a window somewhere. You just kept heading up, finding somewhere to sit for a bit. The smell of salt washed over you as you watched the - you didn’t know if you could describe a beach as grungy but it seemed the best - grungy beach.

You didn't know how to feel about his parents, you and Ford seemed to have something almost a relationship if Ford was ever capable of starting one without mixing it with his work. You weren’t sure what they expected from you, even his father’s straightforward gaze seemed to uncharacteristically asking something.

Even beyond that, it was a bit too much. You could see the bits of Stanford in both of them, though you don't feel like you could tell Ford that.

People didn't seem to like being reminded of the crumbs of their parents they were made of.

Things were odd in this house. Photos were new, you managed to only see a small peek of Ford as a child from his mother on a ripped photo and nothing else. There was a clear amount of pride, however, especially in the photos of only adult Ford around the house.

You sighed and shuffled a bit, the pieces of a puzzle you stumbled onto beginning to nag you. A feeling on what exactly it was came into mind when you walked into Ford’s old room and a bunk bed stared you in the face.

You had already done this twist in a game, not sure if you could handle if he’s got a dead brother.

“I see you found this already,” Ford said as he sat down next to you, your bodies pressed next to each other and you could feel the tenseness radiating from both of your bodies at the proximity.

You wondered if he felt the same warmth spreading through his chest as you did.

“I used to hide up here when I wanted space to myself.”

“What is it?” you looked around again, unsure what to even call the small alcove, “it defies description, was it here when you all moved here?”

“An alcove?” he said, “Something that was a closet and they stuck a window in it?”

“The next page in your book?” you said softly and he gave a small laugh, giving a noise of agreement before shifting his journal from his pocket to quickly write something about it.

You couldn't help but smile as he quickly sketched out the room, making a note about the supposed qualities. He looked happy for the first time since coming here, his fingers on his free hand wiggled as he told you exactly what paranormal things happened here. You couldn’t help the small grin on your face as he specified a note that it was a joke page.

Your cheeks began to ache as he finished, you wondering if you'd ever been this happy before you came here. 

* * *

 

“I used to do card readings,” his mother said, not a single hair moving out of place of her elaborate hairstyle as she shuffled the card blindingly fast, “Tried to train Ford how to do it but he never could get the hang of interpretation.”

“Ah,” you said, starting to realise why Ford was so insistent that Tarot had nothing behind it.

It always just struck you as odd from a man who acknowledges that there are psychic mosquitos that just can’t help but give their messages in typos but that there could be a force behind Tarot was too much for him to accept.

“Got a question?” she said, finally stopping and you leant back with a hum.

“What does my future hold?”

‘Will I go home?’ you added in your head, ‘is this my place forever?’

She gave a hum and a slight flourish of her hands as she spread the cards out, you looked at her in confusion before she said.

“Pick which one calls to you,” she said, something soft on her face as you reached out.

Your hand dipped down to pick one up and flipped it over, that softness immediately hardening at the sight. Electricity struck the tower from the bottom, a man floating up into the sky as everything on the card crumbled. The tower stared at you, the two of you seemed to freeze.

“We just make this up,” she said as she gathered the cards, something in the stiffness in her body seemed to tell you that she was lying, “I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

“Okie,” you said, something still unsettling you about that card almost as if it burned into your mind.

“That's what she told me,” Ford said as he slipped into the chair his mother was just sitting in, “Still wasn't good at that.”

“It's an art to bullshit for money,” you replied absentmindedly, picking up a lukewarm glass of water that you had forgotten about, “You're so focused on the truth I can see why that would be difficult for you.”

“I've made stories up,” he said, leaning forward, “I don’t know if that’s true.”

“Making up a story for fun is way different than making one up for people to believe in and throw money at you,” you said, something twinkling in your eyes as you rested your head on your hands, “It’s just a bit too dishonest for you to manage.”

He blinked at you while pondering over your words, trying to find a gap that he could argue with you about. You could practically see the way that he held onto that argument, trying to find even the smallest crack in it.

“I guess,” he finally said, a smile on his face as you looked over his face.

Something washed over you, nostalgia for something that wouldn’t be out for a long time. The more you thought about it the more something began to wash over you, a depressive pushing feeling.

“Oh,” you said, suddenly blinking away tears, “you’d love Mass Effect.”

He just looked at you, unsure of what to say. There was such a genuine emotion behind your words that he couldn’t say anything in response. Eventually, he took a deep breath before reaching over and awkwardly holding your wrist as you looked at him with confusion.

“You can show me,” he said with a soft voice, suddenly wishing that he actually knew what to do with people.

“Yeah,” you were impossibly small, swallowing past the lump, “I will.”

His face suddenly went red as he slipped his hand away, the hand so tenderly on yours reached up to rub the back of his neck. You just looked at him as he suddenly leant back, the chair screeching against the floor.

“I should…” Ford stared forward with such a tenseness across his face.

Pain flashed inside of you as you wondered what you did wrong, he seemed to nearly panic as he realised that he seemed to hurt you. His shoulder began to curl forward, his hand nervously patting his coat for his journal and you wondered had just happened.

“I should get everything ready to pack,” you were suddenly bitter, stepping up and walking from the room with everything that had just happened swirling around in your head.

As you got upside your hand found it's way onto your chest, everything suddenly tumbling around you. You grabbed a shirt hastily and stuffed it into your bag. You just absentmindedly walked around, grabbing everything of yours as you couldn't help but feel ashamed for nearly snapping at Ford like that.

You wondered if he even noticed it or if he just pushed it aside as something he didn't understand.

It wasn't the card or even just Ford's odd sense of distance, not really. You just missed Gravity Falls, more than you expected to. You wanted to see the trees again, beat off gnomes with a broom, or even just feel the lake lap at your legs while Ford tried to lure out the Gobblewonker.

Jersey was just too plain after all of that, though you supposed you never really did see that Jersey devil Ford was talking about.

As you loaded your bags back into the car your chest began to lighten from the tension you just realised was there. Ford slipped into the driver's seat and the pair of you headed out. Fear suddenly struck you as you realised you had been in an older car, which as far as you were concerned were designed to take everyone out in a car crash.

"So uh..." you said, Ford just looking at you in confusion, "Don't crash and kill us all."

He gave a laugh, you just nervously sitting there, "I'll try not to."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, though this was always casually written when I could.

You took a deep swig out of the can, your fingernail slipping under the tab to make a rhythmic tapping noise. You took a swig from the can, the taste of peach washing over you. The pit rattled deep inside of it, you swirling it around and making it give a low rolling noise from deep inside.

"I don't think I'll get used to the pit," you said while taking another sip, the hard pit falling into your mouth and you spit it aside.

There was surprisingly little to do, especially since you were so accustomed to the whirlwind of activity that was the last few years. Ford was up to something, his entire demeanor seemed almost happy. That just wasn't right to you, at least not this sort of happy.

He got obsessed happy, his forehead covered in ink marks since he would distractedly scratch his forehead with the wrong side of his pen. He didn't get that sort of happy that almost seemed to be flying. You pushed yourself up, feet ambling forward as you made your way into his lab. He jumped as the door was opened, tucking something into the shelf on his desk and slamming it shut.

"Oh hi," he said, suddenly refusing to look you in the eyes and you pushed yourself towards him with your eyes suddenly hard with anger.

"What did you do," Ford suddenly turning around and shuffling papers around as you demanded that, "What did you blow up?"

"Nothing," he suddenly said, whipping around to look at you with almost pure disbelief that you would immediately assume that.

"I'll have you know."

His voice wound up, coughing into his hand in embarrassment as his voice cracked, "Only three experiments have ever blown up," 

You just stared at him, hands tightening as you were unsure whether to believe him. You certainly hadn't heard any explosions recently but that doesn't mean that he didn't go off into town. You tapped your chin, the two of you staring at each other as the suspicion inside of you grew.

A knock shattered the silence around you and at the panic filling Ford's face you whipped around and ran up the stairs. His arms wailed as he ran after you, you slipping around the corner with your hand out for balance.

"No," he called out as you panted with your hand on the doorknob, "It's okay, I can get it."

"Too late Ford," your force was deep and gravely with the playful attitude that made Ford's face grow a bit red.

"What did he blow up?" you demanded as you threw open the door to the confusion of the man there.

"I... uh..." he said with confusion on his face while he looked between you and Ford behind you, his hand resting on the table as he caught his breath.

"Don't answer," was all Ford said and the man pinched his eyebrows together.

"I ain't getting in the middle of your lover spat," he said and you laughed while Ford sputtered behind you. 

* * *

"This is Fiddleford McGucket," Ford introduced him after introducing you, "My old roommate in college."

"Oh my god," you said, almost instinctually and they both looked at you, "They were roommates."

"Yes," Ford said, "That's what I said, glad to hear you were listening."

You gave a small chuckle before getting to swept up into memories that sometimes walked into a bad place for you. A casual smile spread across your face while you looked between the pair of them, a question beginning to bubble inside of you.

"Why is he here," you asked, looking at Ford who couldn't meet your eyes yet again.

"Just to help with something," he said and Fiddleford shuffled uncomfortably, watching the way that discomfort settled across your body.

"Alright then," you said, snapping open the fridge to grab a water bottle you set the chill, "Keep your secrets."

You slammed it shut in a way that made it clear that you were still upset with him. You grabbed your bag by the door and let the screen door slam against the house while grabbing the bat there as well while roaming into the woods.

You shifted your weight from the seat on the log, watching the plaidypus gently ease over a rock. you shifted down, absentmindedly following it while taking a sip of the water you brought along. 

"Hey there," you said, the creature turning around and slowly ambling to you, "You're cute aren't you."

It just gave a gurgling noise before disappearing into the bush, you smiling amiably at the tiny creature. They certainly hadn't annoyed you like Ford was, hiding behind hastily constructed secrets that baffled you on why they had to be there in the first place.

You stuck your tongue in and blew a raspberry as you looked up, seeing the sky slowly turn to orange at the sun setting across the horizon. As much as you were loath to, you decided to amble back to the house. You may have learned the lay of hte land pretty well but there was enough in this woods that you didn't feel safe once darkness settled.

"I'm back," you called out, pulling your water bottle out to fill it again. 

Silence greeted you as you twisted the sink on. A hum bubbled inside of your chest while you watched the water swirl into the bottle. As it bubbled to the top you shut off the sink, absentmindedly putting the lid back on while you looked around the kitchen painted red from the dimming light.

Your annoyance subsided and you felt a sigh build up inside of you. Your hand tightened on the bottle and you carried it over to the fridge, staring at the lackluster amount of food in the fridge.

You closed it and swayed back and forth, giving a noise of exasperation. It wasn't that he was stuck into his work, you were used to that and truthfully it charmed you more than anything. Something just trailed up your body, grasping your heart and squeezing it tightly.

You didn't want him to leave you.

It was pathetic and it sapped you of any hunger that you had. You ambled upstairs, hearing the faint rumble of work beneath the house. You could almost see it, that slight smile he got as he poured over schematics and deeply engrossed into whatever was in front of him.

Your hand tightened it's grip on the blanket as you curled up tighter underneath it. You slipped into sleep, ignoring that painful throb of anxiety deep in your stomach or the way that your eyes threatened with a burning feeling.

* * *

The air began to chill, fall settling in every corner of the forest. The gnomes began to settle down for "hibernation" though you actually doubted they did, just an idea they got in their head. The Sirens started to head back out to sea, not wanting to be trapped when the rivers finally froze. Fintsy - Ford's ex - wished you goodbye and good luck all while sticking their tongue out at the thought of Ford.

This was what you did now, while Ford barricaded himself in the lab. You got data that slipped out of his reach simply because he wasn't personable enough to get it though you had the basic courtesy to pretend that he could.

You ambled up the mountain, hand clenched around the cassette player as you left it and a few tapes at the mouth of the cave there. You walked into the forest and kept walking, foot stepping in front of the other until you realized that you were starting to float.

Your hands reached out almost disoriented, fear striking you as you did anything to stop yourself from slipping into the sky. Anything would be better, that primal fear of slipping off the earth and suffocating in space overwhelmed you.

Then it stopped.

You crashed to the ground with only a murmur of pain from landing a bit odd. A plaidypus nearby shrieked with fear, you flipping it off it's back onto its legs before it ran off into the forest. You gave a hiss at your ankle buckled, certain that it was beginning to swell from twisting on the landing.

You made your way back to the shack, hearing screaming and a car door slam shut. Ford was standing on the porch staring out as McGucket's car stormed off. You limped over there, your face tight with pain.

"Ford?"

He looked at you, panic on his face. His hand opened as you pulled near, reaching out to help you then flinching away as you nearly spilled to the ground. His hands hung by his side, squeezing tightly before he stepped away.

"I..." he said before turning back into the house and you just stared at the door that closed behind him.

Your heart ached as your arms crossed, shoulders curling forward in an instinctual reaction to the pain in your chest.


End file.
